


Inuyasha, The Idiot

by annabeth



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Angst, F/M, Mild Language, emotionally constipated boy, idiot boy, seemingly unrequited feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24197401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabeth/pseuds/annabeth
Summary: "Kikyo, Kikyo, KIKYO!" she yelled, voice escalating every time she said her name again. "It's always Kikyo! Are you so stupid you can't even noticeme?"
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome & InuYasha, Inuyasha/Kikyo (mentioned)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Inuyasha, The Idiot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Blownwish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blownwish/gifts).



> Written for "inconsiderate" for Get Your Words Out Yahtzee, prompt set #3. Thanks to Blownwish for the beta!

Inuyasha was lying on his back, watching the stars wink into existence in the navy sky above him, reflecting on the fact that he'd seen Kikyo that afternoon. Her beauty astounded him, like always, and he felt useless afterwards, like he couldn't do anything. He knew he'd been half-ignoring Kagome since—he'd responded to some of her conversational sallies, but only after she'd said his name and repeated her words several times—but he couldn't help it.

Inuyasha couldn't stop to think about Kagome too much, though, because he was feeling too distracted. Kikyo had barely looked at him; like much of the times he'd seen her since she'd been resurrected, she seemed to view him with disdain. She didn't love him anymore, Inuyasha knew that—he'd seen the hatred in her eyes when she'd first seen him after Urasue brought her back—but secret crannies in his heart still wanted to believe in second chances. He wanted to believe that she still loved him somewhere, like he did; he had recovered from her betrayal when he found out Naraku was involved.

But Kikyo didn't accept Inuyasha's version of events. No, it was worse than that: she didn't even _listen_ to Inuyasha's version of events, no matter how true they might be. Even now, when she didn't immediately try to kill him, she couldn't be bothered with him. Inuyasha sighed, picking a piece of grass and sticking it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully, which is how Kagome found him just as darkness fully fell.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, sitting down next to him with her knees drawn up to her chest. "The fish is done. You okay?"

"I'm fine," he said. "Just remembering Kikyo," he added, picking out shapes in the stars of the night sky.

"Oh, of course," Kagome said, her voice soft. Inuyasha wondered why she sounded so sad. Maybe she was commiserating with him because he'd lost Kikyo? He sat up, turning to face her. Kagome was staring down at her knees, her arms wrapped around her legs. She sat like that a lot, but somehow she seemed more forlorn this time than usual.

"I'm really fine," he said, trying to reassure her. "You know what it's like when I see Kikyo, but it'll be okay."

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said, and averted her face. What was with her? He reached out a hand, but she avoided him neatly and scooted away from him. Why was she acting like he had some sort of deadly disease?

"I know Kikyo hates me now, Kagome, so don't worry. I won't go chasing after her." He extended his hand again, almost touching her shoulder, then pulled his hand back. She was in a thorny mood right now; she might snap and wallop him with something if he wasn't careful. Or use her command on him. That would suck.

"Oh, sure, Inuyasha," Kagome said. "Just go get your fish and leave me alone."

Inuyasha went to stand up, then changed his mind; there was clearly something bothering her. Maybe she had a stomachache from all the fish lately?

"Are you feeling sick?" he asked, and studied her face in the darkness. A sliver of moonlight fell across her face, illuminating only a single stripe of it, and in that low lighting, he couldn't make out her expression.

"In a manner of speaking," Kagome said, then got up. "I'm going to bed."

"What? What did I say? Kagome!" Inuyasha jumped to his feet and ran after her; even though she was trying to get away from him, he couldn't let things stand like that. As she turned, her hair whipping across her face, for a moment the moon fell completely over her and she looked just like Kikyo. The hairstyle was different, but in that highlight of the moon, her face was pearl-pale, and her lips so red, that Inuyasha was reaching out again, whispering, "Kikyo—" before he even realized he was doing it. Kagome instantly stopped, her body going taut. She clenched her fists. Inuyasha was baffled, barely aware that he'd spoken aloud.

++

_That damn Inuyasha_ , Kagome was thinking to herself, even as she whirled around and resumed her controlled stomp back to the fire and the camp they had made. He was so damn clueless, he didn't even realize that _she_ was the one in front of him—she was around him almost every day, all day!—not Kikyo. But no, he only had eyes for Kikyo, and now that he'd seen her again, he'd been completely unreachable all day.

Kagome had sensed a jewel shard at one point, and she'd had to repeat herself three times before Inuyasha registered that a jewel shard meant business slaying _youkai_. And worse, Kagome had realized her feelings for him were love—but he not only didn't return her feelings, he didn't even notice them! He was conscious only of the fish they'd cooked and the woman who had tried to kill him. And more than once! She barely tolerated him now, and that was really saying something.

Kagome knew Inuyasha had forgiven Kikyo for that, but she also understood Kikyo to a point, and Kikyo might never forgive Inuyasha. She probably still wanted to drag him with her to hell—and Inuyasha would probably permit it, even if he was aware of what was happening. He was hopeless.

And now this! He'd even called _Kagome_ Kikyo. It was beyond insulting.

"Kagome, no, wait! At least tell me why you're upset!"

"As if you didn't know!" she shot back. "Or maybe you really _don't_ know, in which case you're just as dense and stupid as I thought."

"Hey, that's harsh," Inuyasha said, following her like a stupid, silly puppy that hadn't been properly trained. _You wouldn't be thinking of him that way if he wasn't confusing you with Kikyo,_ Kagome couldn't help thinking, in the back of her mind. _You wouldn't love him if he didn't have loveable qualities._

"Inuyasha—" Kagome said, finally stopping and facing him again. He wore a lost puppy expression, too. Damn dog _hanyou_ , managing to look completely lost and like he needed cuddles. Not that Inuyasha would ever expect something like that, no matter what expression he presented. He probably didn't even know he looked so sad. Kagome instantly felt bad; he loved Kikyo, didn't he? And Kikyo felt nothing but hatred for him now. Maybe he was right, and she _was_ being too harsh.

"Is it Kikyo?" he asked, golden eyes gleaming in the low light. They reflected, and they were so beautiful Kagome's heart ached. Loving him was like a wound in her heart, a wound that would never scab over, never scar, because Inuyasha was always there to rip off the band-aid. "Did she say something to you?"

"You were there," Kagome said. He frowned, and Kagome closed her eyes so she couldn't see his face. Maybe if she didn't look at him, she wouldn't feel anything. How could she love him so much, and he wasn't even aware of it? She was disastrously in love with someone who only loved someone else. And Kikyo hadn't even had the decency to stay dead.

Kagome felt guilty right away for that thought—Kikyo didn't deserve her ill-wishes, she'd been an unwilling participant in her resurrection, and she'd died under cruel circumstances, thinking her lover had slashed her open and left her to die before stealing the Shikon Jewel. It was no wonder that Kikyo was so bitter, because in her mind Inuyasha had said he would do something for her that, as far as she was concerned now, he'd never intended to do. That he had only ever been using her to get closer to the Sacred Jewel she protected.

Kagome knew all that, but it didn't keep things from being painful or awkward every time they ran into Kikyo—and it didn't stop Inuyasha from pining after her.

"I could never hurt Kikyo," Inuyasha was saying, and Kagome realized he'd been speaking for some time and she hadn't heard any of it. "I promised her back then I'd protect her. I told her…" now he was clearly speaking more to himself, "that I would become human. That I would renounce my _youkai_ blood so that she could be an ordinary woman." He paused, then looked at Kagome. "I would do anything for her. You understand that, right?"

He appeared so earnest, but… Kagome was no fool. He didn't even _see_ her, Kagome, even when she was right in front of his nose. Those keen senses, wasted on an inferior brain, since she knew he could smell her, that he could hear her… but all he could think about was Kikyo!

"Kikyo, Kikyo, KIKYO!" she yelled, voice escalating every time she said her name again. "It's always Kikyo! Are you so stupid you can't even notice _me_?"

"But, Kagome, you're with me all the time," Inuyasha said in apparent confusion. "Of course I notice you? But—"

"InuYASHA," Kagome said, voice rising again, " _Sit, boy!_ "

As Inuyasha plunged towards the earth, spread-eagle and stuck, she could hear a muffled,

"But _why_ , Kagome?"

"Figure it out yourself!" she cried, and continued stomping back to the fire. The others were all sitting around it, shaking their heads, even Kirara.

"He'll never get it," Shippo said sadly. "Even I get it, and I'm just a kid!"

"You're right," Sango said. "He's an idiot. I think—" she shot a meaningful glare at Miroku, who was doing his best "innocent monk" impression "—that _all_ men are."

"You might be right about that. Here, Shippo. Have Inuyasha's share, too," Kagome said. Shippo crowed with delight and grabbed the fish, taking a huge bite.

"Hey, Kagome! That's mine! Don't just give away my dinner while I'm helpless back here!"

"Inuyasha?" Kagome said, as sweetly as she was able. "SIT."

The resulting thud echoed among the green hills and fields, and everyone at the fire just shook their heads.

Again.

Inuyasha would never learn.

END


End file.
